Page 17 of Rebel Without a Claus
“No,” she snaps, shooting me a side eye. “I saved the competition by not showing up. That’s how bad of a singer I am.”
Eve and I share a long, heated look before it’s interrupted by Aunt May gasping, scandalized.
“Nonsense!” Aunt May says. “Everyone can sing.” Then, to my absolute horror, she turns to me. “You should go with her to Caroloke, Luke. You have a lovely voice! You two could sing a duet. Like that lovely little snowstorm duet from that movie about the oversized elf.”
This time, it isn’t nearly… Idochoke on my soup. “You want us to singBaby It’s Cold Outside?”
Eve cringes. “That’s a little rapey, Aunt May.”
“Rapey?” Aunt May repeats and we both nod.
“Besides,” I grumble. “Like I said… I don’t sing.”
Anymore.
“I know,” Aunt May says, wistfully. “And it’s such a shame. You have a beautiful voice. Just like your daddy’s.”
Ifreeze. Aunt May and I don’t talk about my dad much. Her brother.
Eve’s eyes drop to her soup and then, to my utter disbelief, sheblushes. “You do have a beautiful voice,” she murmurs, almost to herself.
I don’t reply. Because, yeah—Ididsing in high school.For her.
I joined that damn show choir for one reason and one reason only… so I could secretly spend more time with Eve. And when it was time to audition for the duet, I went for it becauseshewent for it. And I told the director I would only take the solo if Eve did. My big, grand ass gesture… and after we practiced for weeks on that duet, she ghosted us on the day of the competition. Thank God, this other girl, Gemma had learned Eve’s part and was able to step in to save the show choir.
But I didn’t want to sing with Gemma… I only joined to get closer to Eve.
The memory hits like a punch to the gut. It took me everything to finally work up the nerve to put myself out there, to show her—hell, to showeveryone—that I wasn’t just some gruff farm kid who existed in the background. And Eve was supposed to be my ride home that night from the competition. But since she wasn’t there, my mom and dad drove to pick me up. And on their way, they hit a patch of ice and went off the road, wrapping the car around a tree.
I haven’t sung a damn note since. Not to Aunt May. Not in the shower. Hell, not even to the damn reindeer.
It’s not Eve’s fault, I remind myself. She had no way of knowing that blowing off that competition would set into motion a butterfly effect that would take both my parents from me. I might still harbor a little resentment, but I’m mature enough not toblameher.
Even if I did when I was a teenager. I’m older and wiser now.
“Yeah, well… that was a long time ago. I haven’t sung in years,” I say flatly.
Eve tilts her head, studying me. “Why not?”
Heat flares through me. She doesn’t know. How can she not know?
“Why don’t you call it a day, Eve?” I push back from the table. “You should rest before your big performance,songbird.”
She narrows her eyes. “You’re the worst.”
I grind my teeth and even though I only ate half my soup, I storm out of the kitchen, heading back to the barn to check on the reindeer. “Yeah, that’s what they tell me.”
The town squareis packed by the time I show up with Aunt May’s arm linked around my elbow. Twinkling lights cast a golden glow over the crowd, and the massive Christmas tree in the center makes the whole scene look like something out of a Hallmark movie.
“Thanks for taking me,” Aunt May says with a gentle pat to my arm. “Hearing Eve talk about Caroloke reminded me how much I used to love coming here every year.”
“Of course, Aunt May,” I respond. “Anything you want, you get. You know that.” Which is the truth. Aunt May was more like a grandmother to me. She was sixteen years older than my dad and practically raised him. She taught him how to be a reindeerfarmer… and he in turn, taught me. And even though I was only a few months shy of eighteen when my parents died, she didn’t blink an eye and took over raising me for those last few months, picking up teaching me where my dad had left off. After high school graduation, I couldn’t leave her without help on the farm.
From across the bar, Aunt May spies Eve’s parents and they wave us over to their table near the bar, practically vibrating with excitement. I scan the crowd and don’t see Eve yet, but I spot my best friends, Jack and Nicholas, nursing a couple pints by the bar.
After I deposit Aunt May at the table with Eve’s folks, I head over to them at the bar and order a pint for me and a hot toddy for Aunt May. Jack raises a brow when he sees me and Nicholas slaps his palm down onto my shoulder. “Has hell frozen over?” Jack asks with a laugh.
“Is it actually the elusive Luke Dawson actually here at one of Holly Ridge’s Christmas festival competitions?” Nicholas adds.
